critical analysis of the poem Death Alone
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This poem about death connects with the novel Wintergirls because death plays a big role in both. In the poem it says "and the somber color of embittered winter" (line 37), this means that death is like a winter, cold, frozen, and damp. The term "wintergirls" is also used to represent the stage right before death, being cold, frozen, and stuck between living and dying. In the beginning of the poem it talks about how death is lonely and quiet, which is how Lia is and feels throughout the book, also how Cassie is too. Cassie is dead and keeps telling Lia to die too because she's lonely and bored. "Death arrives among all that sound like a shoe with no foot in it, like a suit with no man in it," (lines 23-24) this is a simile used in the poem and the author uses it to tell the reader that death is empty. Lia thinks empty is strong and she wants to be empty, "Empty is strong and invincible," (Anderson, 121). Lia doesn't understand that being empty is actually killing her, just like the poem states. The poem also talks about how some death comes with no warning, "comes and knocks, using a ring with stone in it, with no finger in it, comes and shouts with no mouth, with no tongue, with no throat." (lines 25-28). This is similar to how people thought of Cassie's death. It was surprising and not expected. The poem uses lots of personification, "it spends its life sleeping on the slow mattresses, in the black blankets, and suddenly breathes out:" (lines 44-45). This use of personification is giving death human qualities, like being able to sleep and breathe. The author uses this personification to tell the reader that death will rest in the darkness, but it can suddenly come.This poem does not have a rhyme scheme. The poem also uses repetition, "in it darkness, darkness, darkness," (line 4). The author used repetition to the word darkness by repeating it three times in a row. He did this to really express that death is lonely and full of darkness.
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